Device for branding kegs



(No Model.)

H. ZIMMERMANN.

DEVICE FOR BRANDING KEGS.

No. 338,578. Patented Mar. 23, 1886.

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NITED STATES ATENT Fries.

HENRY ZIMMERMANN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

DEVICE FOR BRANDING KEGS.

SPECIPLCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 338,578, dated March 23, 1886.

Application filed April 4, 1885.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY ZIMMERMANN, of Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Devices for Branding Kegs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in an improved device for branding kegs or barrels, which will be hereinafter fully pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a vertical section through the brand and support, and Fig. 2 is a perspec tive.

I attach a branding device to an ordinary barrel-pitching machine, of which F is the furnace; d, the pipe through which air is forced into the furnace; G G, the pipes which lead the products of combustion into the interior of kegs or barrels placed thereon; E, a metal cone, secured to the furnace by set screws 0 O and carrying the pipes G G.

The machine up to this point is well known and in common use.

D represents a metal cap or short section of pipe, the upper end of which is closed by a metal (preferably copper) plate, A, on the upper side of which are raised letters to form the desired brand. The lower end of D has an annular enlargement of its bore e, forming therein a shoulder, Z), and through its lower end pass two set-screws, by which it is held in place. On the top of the furnace is an annular ring, a, which is surmounted by a frusturn of a cone, V, the upper end of which enters an annular chamber, 6, and against which the set-screws B B press.

In the pipe or cap D is a row of holes, h, quite near the under side of the brand-plate A, and I prefer to make these holes tapering toward the outside of the cap D, as shown, though they may be of the same size through out.

T T represent a cap which fits over D to close holes h.

L L represent two upright posts secured to the truck on which the pitching-machine is usually carried, and M N represent crossbars framed into the uprights L L.

0 represents a collar secured in cross-bar M and having a set-screw, S, therein.

B represents a rod resting in collar 0 and a hole through bar N and held in place by set- Serial No. 161,406.

(No model.)

screw S, so that said rod R can be adjusted to desired height. To the upper end of rod R is pivoted a long lever, H, by a pin, f, and at one end of this lever is a counter-weight, W. To lever H, at a point over the brandplate A, is pivoted a plate, P, to rest on the top of a keg and press the bottom against the brandplate.

K represents akeg in dotted lines, and XX represent guides secured to the top of the furnace and serving to guide a keg properly to the brand-plate.

The operation of my invention is as follows: When the brand is to be used, it is attached to the top of the furnace, as explained, and the cap or cover '1 removed. Fire is now built in the furnace, and air is forced into the furnace through pipe d. As pipeD is in communication with the interior of the furnace, some of the products of combustion pass into said pipe and out through the holes h, thereby heating the brand-plate very hot. A keg or barrel is now placed in the guides X X, by which its end is brought squarely upon the brand-plate, plate P put on the other end of the keg, and the keg forced against the brandplate by lever H. This arrangement dispenses with the separate machine and separate fire now necessary for branding kegs, and permits them to be branded easily and quickly when they are being handled for pitching. When it is desired to use the machine for branding alone, the brand may be put on the side in the place of cone E and pipes G G; but I prefer the arrangement shown in the draw- 111 s.

%Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a barrel-pitching machine, of a branding device consisting of a pipe communicating with the interior of the furnace and attached to the furnace, having its upper end closed by a plate carrying thereon a brand in raised letters, and having a series of holes therein for the escape of the products of combustion, substantially as shown and described.

2. In combinaton with a barrel-pitching machine, a brand attached to the furnace of the pitching-machine, guides secured to the furnace of the pitching-machine around the brand, a frame secured to the support of the 4c. The combination of the barrel-pitching 1o pltching-machine, and a lever pivoted in said machine with the pipe D, having the holes h frame and adapted to press a keg against said therein, bran(1-p1ate A, and cover '1, substanbrand, substantially as shown and described. tially as shown and described."

5 3. The combination, with the furnace of a pitching-machine, of a brand secured thereto HENRY ZIMMERMANN and having a tubular connection therewith for Witnesses: the passage of heat to the brand, substantially OYRUs E. LOTHROP, as described. GEO. H. LOTHBOP. 

